ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek gives an update on his battle with pancreatic cancer in new video.In the clip shot on the game show’s set, shared on Wednesday — a year after the esteemed host announced his stage 4 diagnosis — he says the one-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is 18% and he’s “very happy” to announce he has “reached that marker.”He also admits that he’s struggled often with his illness. “I’d be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one,” Trebek says. “There were some good days, but a lot of not-so-good days.”Trebek told Good Morning America last September that he’d undergo another round of chemotherapy. The new video offered an update on how he’s coping with that.”I joked with friends that the cancer won’t kill me, the chemo treatments will,” he shared. “There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on.”But Trebek said giving up wasn’t an option.”That would’ve been a massive betrayal, a betrayal of my wife and soulmate, Jean, who has given her all to help me survive,” he said, adding it would also be a betrayal to his faith, his supporters, and to others fighting the illness who look to him for hope.Trebek shared a final message of hope to those cheering him on and sending him prayers.”If we, because so many of us are involved in this same situation, if we take it just one day at a time with a positive attitude, anything is possible,” he said.
Trebek ended with, “I’ll keep you posted.”
